Summary:
The Central Coast Centurions head into this clash off the back of their
worst performance in quite some time after they were comprehensively
defeated by the North Sydney Bears a fortnight ago at Harker Oval. Rip
Taylor would not have been pleased with his sides effort as it appeared
they almost threw in the towel late in the second half. Meanwhile the
Tigers were able to make it two wins from their last three outings last
weekend when they accounted for the Wolves at Leichhardt. The Centurions
have regained the services of Shannon McDonnell, Peter Mata'utia and
Simon Williams who were all unavailable a fortnight ago while the final
make up of the Tigers team is anyone's guess as Paul Fletcher has named
an eight man bench. One player who won't be playing for the Tigers is
Matty Ryan as it appears he is another who is set to change clubs mid
season with a move to Wentworthville looking like his destination. An
interesting duel between two teams that are likely to hold equal belief
that this is a winnable game.

Game Breaker: Peter
Mata'utia - Fresh from making his NRL debut where he looked anything
but an NRL rookie, Mata'utia should now have the self belief to dominate
at this level of play. A strong runner of the ball with the ability to
punch through the line and offload at will, Mata'utia will no doubt be a
cause of concern for the Tigers back three all game long.

Prediction: The week off should have done the Centurions the world of good, and expect them to sneak home in a close one.

Summary: The
Newtown Jets will need to overcome a huge test of the clubs depth if
they are to make it three wins on the trot as Origin and injuries are
starting to impinge on the fourth placed club. Players like Enahoro,
Barrett, Naughton and Strickland just to name a few are all unavailable
due to injury while regulars like Pritchard, Carney and Cordner are all
suiting up for the Roosters. There are no such worries for Wenty though
as they field what looks like arguably their best side of the season.
Mortimer, Humble, Hicks and Filiga certainly help give this Wenty outfit
some star power and rumours are abound that Reni Maitua may make his
comeback from a two year layoff here also. The Jets ground out a solid
win against the Bears last week and a repeat performance will be
required here as you can imagine Greg Matterson will be refining his
sides game plan to offset the sides personnel losses while Wenty would
only need to repeat their first half performance from last week for the
full eighty minutes here to register an important away win.

Game Breaker: Scott
Jones - The former Shellharbour Dragon has been inspirational for the
Jets off the bench in 2011. A pint sized dynamo that punches above his
weight, Jones is proving to be one of the signings of the year despite
the anonymity of said signing.

Prediction: This
is a danger game for the home team but they have overcome the odds
already this season and are capable of doing so again here, but it won't
be easy.

Summary: The
North Sydney Bears face somewhat of a litmus test this weekend in
regards to their finals credentials. There is little doubt the Bears are
an improved side compared to the one that ran around in the 2010 NSW
Cup, yet for all of that improvement who have they actually beaten? They
have had the benefit of two byes already while most teams have only had
the one, and three of their four wins have come against the bottom two
teams on the ladder. Admittedly their other win was a convincing one
against the Centurions up in Newcastle who were in fourth place at the
time, but the Centurions were a shell of the team they had been and I'm
not sure how much can be read into that result. Despite their loss to
Wentworthville last weekend, the Vulcans still share joint top spot on
the ladder and will not want to make it two losses on the trot away from
Mt Smart Stadium. Johnny Aranga returns for the visitors which forces
Glen Fisiiahi onto the wing while the Bears will take to North Sydney
Oval with a very similar side to the one that ventured over to Henson
Park last weekend. This needs to be a statement game for the Bears and
wins like these can ultimately make the difference between finishing
eighth and being bundled out of the finals in week one or potentially
finishing fifth.